9 Little-Known Facts About Metabolism

Metabolism is the term which describes calorie burning process of an individual during one day.

If a nutritionist says that your metabolism is 2500, that means you are burning 2500 calories during one typical day. Your metabolism is being always measured – while you stay still, eat, sleep or exercise.

Metabolism is the process in which cells break down food nutrients into energy to fuel necessary functions of your body, such as digestion, heart rate, circulation, breathing and other. In this article, we will look at several interesting facts about metabolism which are little-known to a lot of people.

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1. Ratio

Every time you burn 3,500 calories, your weight drops by 50 grams. To that end, a half hour swim can burn 500 calories, and 20 minutes of walking can burn 100 calories. This means that the increase of your physical activity is directly proportional to the number of calories you burn and metabolic rate.

2. Constant burning

Even when you are not working out you are burning calories. Your body converts fat into energy in order to fuel the functions of the body and the calories which are stored in the body provide you with this necessary energy. It depends on the type of your activity how much fat your body will burn. You burn more calories when you are moving around than just working at a desk. However, your body is a machine which needs the energy to run. So, you are burning calories, even when you are at rest.

3. Eat every 3 hours to promote weight loss

Keep your body fueled with healthy food and propel your body into weight loss mode out of starvation mode. Make a habit of consuming, at least, 3 smaller meals each day instead of long breaks between meals, in order to promote the burning of calories.

4. Physical activity

People who have fit physiques have a higher metabolism because they burn more calories even when they don’t workout, but also when they rest. Your body gets used to the physical activity and it becomes programmed to burn calories.

5. As we age our metabolism slows down

Our BMR gradually slows down while we age. Every 10 years it decreases approximately 2%, beginning in your early to mid-20s. This is due to loss of muscle tissue and the decrease of physical activity as we age.

6. The thyroid gland controls metabolism

A small, butterfly-shaped gland known as the thyroid regulates your metabolism, which determines the rate at which the body breaks down food into necessary energy. The thyroid gland is near Adam’s apple, at the front of your neck. When it comes to protein and energy production, hormone regulation, and other bodily processes, the brain sends messages to the thyroid gland.

7. Thyroid affects more than weight

A lot of people who have difficulties with loss of weight claim they have an underactive thyroid, which means they have a slow basal metabolic rate (BMR). But, the underactive thyroid doesn’t affect just your weight. It causes a plenty of symptoms such as fatigue, depression, weight gain, low sexual drive, hair loss, and dry skin, which can only be removed by thyroid medication.

8. Size determines metabolic need

The idea that thinner, smaller people have a faster BMR or ability to burn calories is false. In fact, the size of your body and it’s composition (muscle tissues vs. fat tissues) determine how much fuel (food nutrients) your body needs to produce the energy to function. So, long story short, the bigger you are, the more food nutrients you need in order to function, and your BMR (Basal metabolic rate) will be higher.

9. Other factors which affect metabolism

One of the unfair factor when it comes to the rate at which every person burns calories is genetics. For example, if you are naturally thin and fit like people in your family and your ancestors, chances are you will stay thin no matter what you eat.